Don't Say You Love Me
by simply-aly
Summary: Zutara oneshots, twoshots, or threeshots. "If I told you that I was testing you to see if you'd wait, what would you say?" "I'd say that you didn't need to. I'd wait forever." "Would you? Could you really wait for me forever?"
1. Don't Tell Me You Love Me If You Don't

**Authors Note****: So this has gotten the most votes so far, so this is what I have started working on. If there is anything in my profile that you might want to see posted, vote for it. **_**It's a new poll, so if you voted before, you can vote again.**_

**Also, because this is a oneshot/drabble series, **_**if there are any requests**_** out there, feel free to send them in. It's summer vacation right now, so I certainly have lots of free time!**

_Don't Tell Me You Love Me If You Don't_

She is glad. Not only for the darkness that hides her bruised and bleeding body, but also for the quiet that keeps her sane. She can not imagine talking to him right now; not after what he did to her—to them. She closes her eyes, and tries to imagine being in a place other than the place she's at right now; anywhere but here. She tries to tune out the emotions that hold her to the place she's trapped. She tries to go into her mind to a place where she isn't in a horrible pain. She can't stay here like this much longer, she'll die, and she knows it. She also knows she could heal herself if she really wanted to. It wouldn't be hard to get some water. She just doesn't want to heal herself, she wants to suffer—it's a self-inflicted torture for her reckless behavior.

She thinks about her friend and how she put him here. They took him away to a high security prison cell. She knew why—logically it made sense—she just wished it didn't sound so hopeless. She doesn't like to think about her friend tied up, and only being kept alive so the Fire Nation doesn't have to do the whole search again. She is absolutely sure that they're torturing him—punishing him—for all the pain it caused them all to search for him. She can't believe that she did this to her best friend in the whole entire world. What kind of a friend does this to a person they consider to be a friend? What was she thinking?

The thing was, she wasn't thinking.

_**She waits for the right moment. She waits until they're both fast asleep. When they are, she quietly gets out of her sleeping bag. She walks through the forest robotically. She has been doing this for so many nights, now, that it has become robotic. She goes to the beach and finds the small rowboat that she uses to get to his ship. It's always hidden, and always in the same place. She smiles when she sees the bouquet of daises in the small boat. She's used to his gifts, and isn't necessarily surprised, but she always likes to see what he got her this time, because it's always different. **_

_**She waterbends herself to the ship, then waterbends herself up the some number of feet it takes to reach the deck of the ship.**_

_**As she looks around, she is surprised for the second time that night. Well, she did start to notice before, but she never thought anything of it. Now it would be hard to not notice it. When she first started coming, she would always be defensive, sneaky, and cautious. She was quiet and shy, and it took her a long time to trust him. **_

_**She remembers having to sneak past many guards and as she began to trust him, the number of guards dwindled. Now, there were no guards. She remembers bring a small knife in the beginning. She had only actually used it on him once, and that was the first night. After that she only used it in a teasing manner. She doesn't carry the knife anymore because she doesn't need to. She trusts him. **_

_**She makes her way through the corridors and to his bedroom. She opens the door like always; quietly and carefully. He isn't there when she enters, but this is normal. She walks over to his bed and pulls the silk sheets away. She lies down and waits for him to return. She always falls asleep, every single time, but it doesn't seem to bother either of the two teenagers.**_

_**She always wakes up when he enters the room. She always seems to sense his presence, that's how connected they are. She never lets on that she's awake; she likes it when he thinks he's waking her up. She likes how she can hear him sigh from happiness when he sees her. She likes how he'll walk over to the bed, sit on a chair that is by the bed, and watch her sleep. She likes how he'll reach over by her face and wipe away any lose strands of hair. She likes how he takes his right index finger and traces around her face. Then she smiles sleepily up at him, and pretends to awaken.**_

"_**Hey," she murmurs. She wipes her eyes, even though she's only been sleeping for a few hours at the most.**_

"_**Hey," he says back. He extends his hand to her and she looks at him questioningly. "We're doing something a little different this time." He tells her.**_

"_**I trust you." She states and puts her hand in his. She gets out of his bed and follows him out back to the deck. **_

"_**Where are all the guards and soldiers?" she questions.**_

"_**I told them that they couldn't come out here tonight. I said I had some important things to do and no one was to interfere."**_

"_**So I'm important?"**_

"_**Very," he whispers in her ear.**_

_**His voice makes a shiver run up and down her spine. His single word implied so much that it was hard for her to comprehend. He leads her to the edge and holds her in front of him. She giggles. "Why are we out here?" she wonders. He takes one of his hands away from her waist and moves away a lose strand of hair.**_

"_**We're looking at the stars." He answers her. She squirms around in his grip until she is facing him. **_

"_**The stars?"**_

_**He blushes slightly, but she can't see it in the dark of the night. He turns her around again and rests his head on hers. "Yes," he whispers, "The stars."**_

_**She relaxes in his grip and lets him hold her. She tilted her head back so she could see him. "When I was little," she says, "I always watched the stars. I would lie awake at night and look at them and dream. I would dream about what my life would be like, and who I was going to marry, and I dreamed about the kids I wanted to have. I dreamed about everything that I couldn't have, but wanted anyway."**_

"_**You don't have to dream anymore." He whispers, "You can have all of that. I'll give you anything you want."**_

"_**All I want is you." She tells him. She sighs of happiness and closes her eyes. She doesn't want this moment to ever end.**_

She starts to think about her brother, who was badly wounded during battle. She wonderers what happened to him. Did they capture him too? Is he still alive? Is he in some cell, slowly dying, or was their captor nice enough to get him some medical help? She wondered where he was if he was in a cell. She figures their captor was smart enough to not put them close enough to communicate, but how far apart was he? She hoped—wherever he was—he was alright. She wouldn't be able to take it if she found out later that he was dead. She wonders what her brother would say to her if he knew why this all happened in the first place. Her brother has warned her against him for so long now. Not really against having a romance with him, she figures he thought that was so far out of the realm of possibilities that he didn't even have to get into it.

Apparently, he was wrong, for she did see him romantically—well she thought it was a romantic relationship, he obviously didn't—and she got them into this mess.

Lastly she thought about their earthbending companion. Yes, they weren't the best of friends, but they _were_ friends. And yes, they didn't always get along but the earthbender _was_ still her friend, and she honestly cared about her. When they were all led onto the ship, she had been carried. She—along with all of those that had been captured—wondered how they knew that the earthbender was blind, but could 'see' through her earthbending.

The young waterbender wonders if maybe, just maybe, she had told him when she snuck off to meet him. _No, _she concludes_, I wouldn't do that._ She knows better.

The young girl sits on a cot against the cold and slimy metal cell wall and wonders. "How could I have been so stupid?" she asks herself, trying to figure out where she made her mistake, what she did wrong, when she let her guard down. She realizes that there wasn't just one time. It just became when it started and when it started, it just escalated into what it had become…up until his betrayal. She sighs in frustration. "How could I possibly have been so stupid?" she repeats.

"You're not stupid," comes a voice from the prison hallway. _No, not him, _she pleads_, anyone but him…I can't deal with him right now…I can't…. _She suppresses a whimper. He can't know what she's feeling. She won't let him. "You did nothing wrong."

"I trusted you." She replies coldly, hiding, successfully, the emotions that keep trying to be let out; to be explained and explored.

"Were you wrong to do so?" was his cool, calm, and collected reply. _How could he be so calm, _she wonders_, how does he stay so calm with me always?_

"You lied to me," she responds. The teenager winces as she pushes herself up and off the uncomfortable cot. She walks up to the bars that separate her from him, and she strains to see him. There is no light in the prison of this ship—a form of torture, she concludes—and she can't see him. She knows he can make fire instantly, he just doesn't. She lets her words sink in his mind for a moment before she speaks again.

"_**I…I…I can't," she stutters. "I can't do this, we can't do this." She pushes herself away from him and takes a few steps away in an effort to keep herself from giving in. She wants to. She always has, but she can't. She can't do exactly the thing she knows she shouldn't do. It goes against everything she has ever been told. It contradicts everything she has ever believed. It's wrong…but so incredibly right.**_

"_**Why not?" He asks patiently. It's like he knows she'll give in. It's like he knows she can't resist him. The thing neither of them can figure out is: does he really like her? Is she really important to him, or is she just a game? He moves toward her again, because he knows it gets to her when he does that.**_

"_**Why not?" She repeats. "Why not?" She's starting to become hysterical, but she couldn't care less. "It's wrong. My friends…if they knew…" There was no need to finish the sentence. They both knew what would happen. It was inevitable at the very least. **_

_**Neither one talks for a long time. She finally turns to him. "You have to promise me something." She insists. **_

"_**What?" he wants to know.**_

"_**I'm telling you right now, this is going to be a hard choice for you. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't promise. This will tell me how much you're willing to sacrifice to be with me…" she stops and waits for a reaction.**_

"_**Just tell me, I'll do anything." He's begging now, but he doesn't care. He wants to prove to her that he is serious. That she's not just a game to him.**_

"_**Anything?" she repeats. She sighs sadly. "You have to promise me that you won't try to capture me or my friends. You have to promise to leave us alone…if—" The look on his face was easy to read. "No, that doesn't mean you can't see me, we would continue on as we have been if you promise. If you don't promise, I'm leaving, and I'll probably never come back of my own free will."**_

_**She can see him weigh his options. He looks as if he's caught between a rock and a hard place. Did she just make a mistake? Does she really think he'd give up his search on the Avatar for her? She wishes she could take the ultimatum back. She wishes she could say that she didn't mean it, but she can't.**_

"_**I promise." He says after a long silence. "I promise you that I won't try to capture you or any of your friends, or your brother. I promise to leave them all alone."**_

_**She looks up at him. Her bright sapphire eyes are sparkling. She really didn't think he would do it. "Really? Do you mean it?" **_

_**Now it's his turn to laugh. "Yes, I mean it."**_

She wants him to really understand where she's coming from. She wants him to feel what she feels. She wants him to suffer as she is suffering. She wants him to question everyone and everything. She wants him to doubt everything and everyone until he's at the brink of insanity. She wants him to know exactly what he feels for her—whether it's good or bad for her. Most of all, she wants him to understand why she wants to hate him right now—even if she can't go through with it—she wants him to think that she's at least going to try to go through with it.

She forces herself to stop thinking about what was, and think about what is now. She pushes away all of the feelings that come to her when she thinks of the Prince, and focuses on the one thing that she can't immediately get over. "You lied to me," she says, "I trusted you with everything I had. I trusted you with my heart, and you lied to me." She looks forward, where she's sure he is. "I was ready to tell my friends about us, and risk my brother's reaction, for YOU, and you _lie_ to me!" It's the truth, she was about to tell everyone that she was seeing him romantically, she was trying to think of what she was going to say right before she fell asleep.

She's angry, that much they both know. "Everything we shared, every little moment, every little touch, was a lie—a ploy to get the Avatar…and I trusted you." In her mind she goes over every moment she ever spent with him—romantic or otherwise. She tries to justify her actions—her betrayal—so she can explain them to her brother and friends. Try as she might, she can't seem to justify her actions. There is no way to do so. She betrayed them, plain and simple, and there was no way to take it back now…no possible way.

"It wasn't a lie." He mutters. His voice is low and he almost sounds…regretful? Could it be…was it possible…was there more to their relationship then what he showed?

"Then what, exactly, was it?" she screams. "You said you wouldn't do this. You said you wouldn't do this to me…You promised me you wouldn't do this, and you turn around and do it anyway. You promised!" She knows she's yelling, but she can't care less right now. She hates him for doing this to her, but she hates herself for believing in him when she knows not to trust him. "Did you think about me at all? Did you think about me at all when you had us dragged to your ship? Did you think about me at all when you placed me in this disgusting prison cell?"

A tear falls down her face and she hurriedly wipes it away. "I believed you. Against my better judgment, and against everything I've ever been told, I trusted you and you lied to me. Did you ever consider keeping your promise? From the start were you planning on breaking it—breaking any shred of trust we had. Why did you even bother? Why did you try so hard to get me to trust you, if you were going to lie to me? What was the need?"

"I didn't plan on it. I didn't plan on any of it." He shuffles his feet uncomfortably. It seems as if he, too, would rather be anywhere but where he is.

"So what? You didn't _plan_ on getting me to trust you, and when I did, you didn't _plan_ on attacking us in our sleep! Do you really expect me to believe that it was all on a _whim_? That it was all a part of some _plan_ and that no one was supposed to get _hurt_?"

"Yes!" he hisses loudly. "That's _exactly_ what I expect you to believe." He shakes the bars that separate the two, causing a loud noise to ring through the part of the prison.

She laughs at this. A mental picture of a certain boy runs through her mind, someone else she trusted who betrayed her in the end as well. "It's funny, really, I actually loved you." She walks slowly away from him and backs up all the way to the wall. Tears start to cascade down her face like a waterfall. "The only problem now is that I can't stop. After everything you've done to me and the people I care about and love, I can't stop loving you." She sniffles, then forces out a short laugh. "I know better, I really do, you've just proved that I can't trust you, and yet, I still love you." She pauses for a moment to catch her breath and to collect herself. This was really hard on her. "What have you done to me?" she asks desperately. The silence that follows is deafening.

"Come here." He demands.

There is a moment of silence of which she is hesitant, and then she gets up from the ground slowly, and walks to where she thinks he is. She doesn't say anything, she has nothing to say. She wipes the tears away, and then waits.

"I lov—" he starts, but she interrupts. She can't let him finish that sentence. He has no idea what he'd be getting himself into if he said it.

"Don't…please," she pleads, "Don't torture me like that. I can't…I can't handle it. Don't say you love me if you don't. I can't deal with it…not now anyway. Not after what you did…" She's desperate and she hopes that he'll say it. If he does she'll believed that it's true. If he says that he loves her, everything will be alright.

"I did this because I wanted you with me," he says. "I wanted you with me forever, and I found a way. The Avatar needs to learn firebending, and Uncle and I can teach him. We weren't planning on attacking, but your friends, they didn't know about us, so they assumed…and what could I do? I couldn't tell them the truth. I thought that was something you needed to do. So yes, I suppose I did break the promise."

He looks down at the ground, his hands in his pockets, and fumbles around for something. He grasps the metal tightly in his hands as he pulls it out. Then he unlocks her cell door. "Yes, I broke the promise, and for that I am very sorry, but I promise you now that I'll spend every moment of the rest of my life making up for it. And this, I suppose, is as good a start as any." He hands her the set of keys—the keys holding her friends—and tells her where they are. "I didn't plan on fighting, you have to believe me. I want to help you destroy my father."

She can't see him, can't see the pleading look on his face. "But why?" she asks. "You once told me you'd never turn against your people. What changed your mind?"

"You," he says, "I did this because of you. I love you."

She doesn't want to believe him. She doesn't want him to let her down again. She doesn't want to have to explain to everyone what they've been doing for so long now. She wants to just forget it ever happened. But she just can't. For the first time in her life, her heart overrides her brain. "I love you too," she replies, smiling through her tears.

**Author's Note: Isn't that a happy ending? Review and tell me what you think.**


	2. One Slip Up

**Author's note: Yeah, the second oneshot! This one's told (mainly) from Toph's point of view in third person. It has an intro (from Katara's third person point of view) in italics. I hope you enjoy it…**

_One Slip Up_

_She was careful, she was always careful. She had to be. It was required of her; expected of her. She couldn't afford to slip up. The consequences of one slip up, no matter how small, could be terrible. They could be catastrophic. It could change her life as she knew it. Everything she knows could go up in flames—both literally as well as metaphorically. No one would be the same. No one would look at her the same. She would be someone totally different, just because of one slip up._

_Her only problem is that one night she wasn't careful. She did slip up._

She gets up slowly and quietly as always. She can't risk anyone knowing what she is, it would ruin everything. She waits for a moment, as if waiting for a sound, but hears none, so she gets up. She walks around for awhile as if waiting for something, or someone. Then she walks into the woods. She doesn't turn back. She never does get caught, so why would tonight be any different?

Toph awakens that night just a little after Katara. She lets on no sign that she is awake, she wants to know what the waterbending girl was doing up so late. She can feel her moving around the campsite restlessly, and then she goes off. Toph is thrown off guard by this. Shouldn't she tell someone when she's walking around the woods late at night?

At first the earthbender doesn't know what to think, and then she feels the vibrations of another person. Does Katara know about the second person? Is the second person dangerous? Will Katara get hurt if she doesn't warn her? Toph stays silent, regardless of all her worries. Just then, another thought comes to the girl's mind. Could Katara actually know this person? Did she purposefully choose to meet them without her companions knowing? Why would she be meeting someone else? It doesn't make sense to her.

"Hey," she hears Katara say.

"Hello yourself," comes the second person's voice. She recognizes it, but can't seem to place it.

Katara giggles. "You shouldn't have come, it's too risky." She tells him.

"I'm not worried," the second person assures.

"Well maybe you should be." Katara insists.

"Of what? Your brother, the twelve year old Avatar, or the blind earthbender?" Toph has half a mind to bend the earth and hurt this person badly, but she waits for Katara's comeback.

"Don't sell them short. Toph's an excellent earthbender, Aang's still learning, and Sokka hasn't had much training."

Toph smiles, she stood up for them. With that she knows that whatever's going on, Katara can handle it.

That is until Katara utters the person's name. "Zuko, why do we have to hide it? Why can't we just tell everyone and get it over with?"

Zuko? Banished Prince of the Fire Nation Zuko? Why would Katara secretly see _him_?

Prince Zuko's next words give her the answer. "Do you honestly think they'll accept us with open arms? Do you really think that's possible? Do you really think they'll trust you—trust me?"

Katara sighs, "Yeah, I guess your right."

"As usual," Prince Zuko can't help but add. Toph smiles—he likes to tease.

"Zuko!" Katara screeches quietly.

Toph then heads to bed—for real this time—because she knows Katara can handle Prince Zuko.

If anyone can, it's Katara.


	3. Only In Your Dreams

**Authors note: This is part one of a three part drabble. They all relate to one other, but you don't need to read all of them to understand them.**

_Only In Your Dreams_

_I wait for him in the usual spot. It's always the same, and it never changes. Even if we travel, the spot is always the same. We always meet at the closest body of water. I'm tired of waiting, but I'm convinced that he'll show up. He always does. I decide to put some truth to my cover story—I usually do—so I undress to just my swimwear. I slowly step in the water, letting my body get used to the coolness of it. I practice my bending for a bit, and then I just swim._

"_He's not coming." I say to myself. With that knowledge, I get out of the water and sit on a rock overlooking the lake. I let my feet dangle as I sit there. Soon I feel salty tears fall slowly down my face. I don't move to wipe away the tears; I just continue to look at the moon, remembering how everything used to be—before he came into my life—remembering how simple and expected everything was. "He's not coming," I repeat in a faintly._

"_Who's not coming?" asks a low voice from behind me. I don't need to turn around to know who it is. We've been together like this for so long now that hearing is practically not needed. He then sits right behind me, and I feel his hands play with my hair that I let down when I swam. I smile through my tears, and move to wipe them away, but his hand reaches up and grabs my hand away. He pulls me to him and holds me there. Then he wipes away my tears._

"_Why are you so late?" I whisper._

"_If I told you that I was testing you to see if you'd wait, what would you say?" was his calm reply._

"_I'd say that you didn't need to." I respond. "I'd wait forever."_

"_Would you?" he asks. "Could you really wait for me forever?" _

_I nod. "I don't want anyone else, just you."_

"_So if I left you and never came back, you'd still wait; for your whole life? You'd give up marriage and children for me?"_

_I nod again. _

"_Why?" he demands._

"_Because I love you, and only you," I tell him truthfully, not caring that he could easily walk away from all of this. _

_He laughs. "You're crazy. Anyone would have to be crazy to give all of that up just for me. No one would even do that."_

"_I would."_

_He smiles, I can't see him do so, but I know he is smiling. He then turns me around to face him. My hand reaches out and traces his scar, knowing what it means to him that I do. Then he leans in to kiss me and…_

Sokka smiles almost mockingly at me. He sees me breathing heavily, and I know he knows what I was dreaming about. He just doesn't know who. "Only in your dreams, Katara." He says. "Only in your dreams,"


	4. Harder To Deal With

**Authors note: This is part two of a three part drabble. They all relate to one other, but you don't need to read all of them to understand them. The dream referred to in this is also in 'Only In Your Dreams.'**

_Harder to Deal With_

She wakes up from the dream. She's had it many times before. She knows she shouldn't feel the way she does—it's forbidden—but she can't help it. She's terrified. From what her people believe, dreams represent what we want but can't have. If that's true, if that's the case, she's in for some serious trouble. Everything she believes in will not matter if she gives in. Everything she knows, everything she thinks, everything she feels, could change if she chooses him over Aang and Sokka.

Once you get that close through a dream, she realizes, the reality is that much harder to deal with. She sighs and goes back to sleep. She can't act on her feelings, but she doesn't know how much longer she can hide them either.

When she sees him again, as she fights to keep her friend safe, she gives him a look. It was the coldest look she's ever given anyone, and if looks could kill, he'd be dead. In that moment, she realizes that what she wants and what she can't have are the exact same thing. She can't go against everything she believes in, and she sure as hell isn't going to give up her friend, she just wishes it wasn't as hard to hide.


	5. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

**Authors note: This is part three of a three part drabble. They all relate to one other, but you don't need to read all of them to understand them. The dream referred to in this is in 'Only In Your Dreams.'**

_Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid_

She awakens sweating and breathing heavily. She sighs. "Not again," she mutters to herself. Of course it happened again, it happens every night. Every night her sleep is haunted with the same constant nightmare. It isn't a nightmare exactly though…not really. She…enjoys…it, until it ends and she realized it was just the same dream that she's been having for months. She looks over to the fire that never dies, and watches as it rises and falls at its master's command. "If only…if only Sokka would accept him more…than maybe…" she leaves the sentence hanging, because even she doesn't know what would happen then.

A pair of golden eyes lock with her sapphire ones. She gasps. Neither moves; their breath is completely silent. They are afraid to disturb the fragile peace that exists between them, for if they do, it will affect the whole group. "I…I'm sorry, I didn't think that anyone was awake…I…" She didn't know how to explain what she just said. There was no way to tell him what she's been feeling for the past few months without telling him that it's about him.

She expects him to blow up at her, or at the very least demand to know what she was talking about. He doesn't though. Instead, he does something totally unexpected. He smiled…well, as close to a smile as she'd ever seen him, anyway. "It's fine," he says.

She can't sleep now. The all too familiar dream keeps her awake at night; as it does every single night. So, to pass the time she watches him instead. Neither says anything. Words only complicate matters. They just mess everything up because they never come out right.

_Somethings,_ she concludes, _are better left unsaid._


	6. A Different Kind of Torture

**Authors note: This is an alternant version of The Waterbending Scroll, where Katara is tied to the tree—thanks to Zuko. **

_A Different Kind of Torture_

"You'll never get him." I say. "He's to smart for that." In truth, I'm not so sure about that, but I can make a threat if I want to. I'm not as calm as I'm trying to appear. Really, I'm frightened beyond belief, but I hide it…for my safety as well as Aang's. He moves around me, moving closer ever time he makes a complete circle.

"Come off it, we both know that's an empty threat. A lie even." He's whispering in my ear now, and I'm fighting myself to stay calm. A shiver goes through my body at his close proximity. I'm sure he can tell that I'm not as calm as I wish I was. I never needed to practice this back home, there, it wasn't a necessity. "Anyone with half a brain knows that the Avatar cares too much about you to leave you here…with me."

He's right, of course, but he doesn't need me to confirm what he already knows. Let him have a little doubt. "Actually, we recently got into an argument." I tell him. It's not a total lie, an almost truth, really.

He smirks. "Let me guess, you fought over the scroll?" I hate that he's always right. "That would surely explain why you snuck away alone now wouldn't it?" he circles me again and I can feel a shiver go down my back. I struggle against the ropes binding me to this stupid tree. "It won't do you any good." He announces, and can sense the pride in his voice. "The ropes are expertly tied. A simple Water Tribe peasant like you couldn't break them."

I glare at him. "Just watch me." I spit, my eyes and words as cold as ice. I keep struggling, but even I know it is pointless. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him smirking. He catches me looking at him and I can see him pull out a knife. I try really hard to hold back a gasp, but find it increasingly difficult. And as much as I try to keep it down, to no avail, I gasp; scared of what he'll do. As he walks toward me, I close my eyes, but force myself to open them once again. I look into his empty eyes and hold his gaze. The knife grazes across my throat smoothly, not enough to draw blood. Then, in one swift motion, he cuts through the ropes holding me to the tree.

I think he expects me to be so stunned and surprised that I stay there, but I know when to take a chance, and in that moment I kick him in the stomach and as she stumbles backward, I run as far away from him as I can get. As I run, I look back—a mistake, I know, but I had to make sure he was alright, and that I didn't hurt him. He's fine; more than fine, he's chasing after me. I hold back a scream and dart forward. I find a bush and, in a moment of fear stricken panic, crouch beneath it.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." I hear him calling. My breathing is heavy and it takes everything in me to keep from screaming. "You can't possibly hide forever."

After a few minutes, I notice how quiet it is. I don't here him around, so I sigh and get up, but unlucky me, he is right directly behind me. A knife appears in frond of my throat, and my body is forced up and is pressed against his. A yelp passes my lips and I try to struggle, but he's too strong. The knife, I realize, is tilted so it can't hurt me and I shiver as he guides the knife across my throat and down my left arm. Then the knife is guided back up to my throat and the process is repeated down my right arm. "Don't," I whimper. I don't necessarily _want_ him to stop, but I know I can't let this continue. I can't let this happen, but I can't fight. I lost all will to fight long ago. This is the effect he has on me, and it's too strong to break.

"Don't tell me you're not enjoying it." He taunts, knowing exactly how I'm feeling.

"I'm not." I force myself to say, lying through my teeth. And he knows it.

He laughs, "Don't lie to me, Katara." He reprimands.

I force my breathing, making it slow and steady. Trying to disguise exactly how I feel. _I can't let him win. I won't let him win._ "Why would I lie?" I ask smoothly. Strangely enough, I find it easy to lie to the Banished Prince. I look into his eyes, his fierce determination mirrored in my eyes.

He pulls my head back ever so slightly and puts his lips to mine. For a moment I find myself enjoying it, knowing that that's exactly what he wants, and then I realize exactly _who_ it is that I'm kissing. His hands are around my wrists, and I twist my hands to try to free myself. As quickly as the kiss happened, it ends. Then he's gone.

"He was torturing me." I realize, "That was sure a different kind of torture."


	7. Trust

**Author's Note: This one's a bit darker than the others, and I'm sorry for that. Warning for non-graphic rape (not Zuko).**

_Trust_

Katara wasn't thinking. She didn't bother to tell anyone that she was going out, she just did it. Now, she's regretting it. She shouldn't have left the house at all, but she did, and now she's paying the price. She is getting so tired of fighting, and she just wants to stop. She can't think. Thinking is detraction; you can't think when you fight. She's tired though, and she can't help but think.

They keep advancing on her. Two guys she can handle, but three she can't. Not on her own. Not now. Not on this dark night. There is no moon tonight, and her bending is weak. This isn't working, fighting isn't working; she just has to run.

Katara knocks them all down with as powerful a water whip as she can do and makes a run for it. She doesn't think about where she's going; she just knows she has to get as far away as she can get. A dark alley is as far as she gets, though, before she is pushed to the ground.

_There's no getting away._ The thought registers in Katara's mind as soon as her hands are pinned down. "No!" she screams. She won't let them do it. She's got to fight; she's got to get away. She kicks and thrashes and screams. She won't let him do it. She won't let it happen to her. She doesn't want to be a victim; she can't be a victim.

The one above her slaps her, and she screams out. "Shut up!" the man hisses at her, "Just shut the hell up."

"No," Katara shouts. "No!" She's not going to let this happen. She's not going to let them hurt her like this. She keeps moving around so he can't actually do what he wants.

He apparently understands what she's doing and slaps her again. "Hold her tighter, you idiots." He commands the other two men.

Instantly, she feels the hands around wrists tighten, and the hands holding her legs wide apart also won't relent. Then the tears start to fall down Katara's face. The only thing she can do now is to scream. Someone will hear her…right? So she screams as loud as she can make herself scream. She screams over and over again. And every time the man above her hits her, she screams louder.

The one holding her feet, the man she can't see, says something to the one above her. She can't hear it all, because she keeps screaming, but she makes out some of it. "You've got to shut her up…found and arrested…all for nothing."

Katara tilts her head way back to see the person holding her wrists. His face is completely emotionless, even his eyes are cold. His eyes are on her, but he doesn't actually seem to be looking at her, but rather looking through her. She straightens her head and looks at the man above her again. Mistake. Big, big mistake. Knowing it's just some stranger only makes everything worse. She screams again, and again, and again.

He puts his hand over her mouth. "If you scream one more time, you're not getting out of this alive. You will shut the hell up or I won't hesitate to fucking kill you when we're done." The threat does exactly what it's supposed to do. She closes her mouth and her eyes. He's not done threatening her though. He smirks evilly at her. "Don't try my patience…and you can be sure we won't gentle either."

Tears are falling fast down her face now. She knows what's going to happen to her here. She has no way out. She can't stop this from happening. No one knows she's here. No one knows that this is happening to her. No one's going to save her. She doesn't want to feel it. She doesn't want to know what they're going to do to her body. She doesn't want to know what's going on.

The tears start to slow, and she closes her eyes to stop them completely. She's lying in a puddle of mud, and there's blood all over her. She's scared. The man above her starts to rip off her clothes.

She forces herself inside her mind. She makes herself drift off to a place; another kind of life. She takes away the pain and creates a place where she's okay; a place where this isn't happening to her. Far away, she sees her clothing hit the wall, and she feels her braid being undone. _Focus_, she commands herself, _don't think about it. _She makes herself go back to the place. She has to get away from the pain and the crime being committed against her.

She looks up at the sky and imagines herself up there with the stars. She imagines herself jumping from star to star. There is no moon, but there are many stars. She makes pictures in the stars. Shapes at first, then simple things like hands and feet, and soon she starts looking for people. She spells in the stars. She tries to count them all. Slowly, she counts them. She doesn't want to go fast; she wants to take her time. Who knows how long this will last. Who knows how long she's going to be lying here.

One, two, three, four, five…

Distantly, Katara hears voices. They get louder and softer, but she refuses to concentrate on them because she knows whom they belong to. She doesn't want to feel the pain. She doesn't want it to hurt anymore.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten…

She wants to forget that this is happening. Just go back to the other night. She wants to be curled up in her warm, soft blankets. She wants to watch a fire dance through the night. She wants to be able to sleep peacefully. She knows she's going to have nightmares.

Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…

The pain is gone. Completely gone. She doesn't feel anything anymore. It scares her. Did they kill her while she was in her mind? Is she dead? Dead…the word doesn't sound right in her mind. She can't be dead then, can she? She definitely should just know it if she were dead. She would know it. She would.

She forces herself to come out of her mind and back to reality. First it's the smells. She smells salty tears, blood, and an odor she can't identify. Next it's the tastes. She tastes the blood from her split lip from when the man hit her. She can also taste the tears. Now it's sounds. She hears the breaking of wood, as if someone's been thrown into a wooden crate. She hears clanking as if people are fighting with metal swords. And she hears the steady breathing of someone next to her.

She concentrates more and she can feel. She hurts all over. Her arms and legs, and face and stomach. Mostly in her lower region, though. She's scared to see it, but she knows it's going to happen soon.

And her fears are answered. Soon her vision begins to clear up and she can see herself. The first thing she notices is that she's naked, but that thought is soon overlooked as she realizes what's been done to her body. She has cuts all over and she has bruises on her wrists and ankles and…everywhere. She then looks next to her, and she can see the man who was holding her wrists. He's unconscious, but steadily breathing.

She blinks a few times and sees the guy who was over her before lying in a pile of broken pieces of wood. He's bleeding steadily from the head, but instinctively, Katara knows that he'll live. And then she's able to see moving things like the two people fighting. The first one she doesn't recognize. She assumes he was her third assailant; the one who held her ankles. The other person, she did recognize.

The Blue Spirit. All Aang told her and Sokka was that he saved him from Zhao. She also knows that he's an enemy of the Fire Nation, but that's it. It doesn't make him a good guy, but it doesn't make him a bad guy either.

He saved her, didn't he?

She watches silently as the Blue Spirit finish off the last assailant. And when he's lying on the ground, he stops. His swords at his sides, he walks over to the man that had been over her. The swords, she notices, he positions right over the man's neck.

"No," she whispers. "Don't kill him."

At first it appears as if the Blue Spirit didn't hear her. He just keeps the swords over the man's body. The man's breathing is even, Katara can see that much, but he's alert. He's afraid of what the man above him might do. He should be scared. Katara wants him scared.

The Blue Spirit turns to Katara, finally. He doesn't say anything, just looks at her and she knows why. He's asking for a reason not to kill the man.

Katara sighs. "Death is too good for him." She doesn't explain her answer, but the Blue Spirit nods.

Suddenly, she can't concentrate on the elusive Blue Spirit anymore. Suddenly she feels an overwhelming sense of anxiety. She knows she's going to faint. She knows the men who did this to her will probably never be put in prison. She knows she's never going to see the face of the man who saved her. She'll never be able to thank him. She'll never be able to tell him how…how grateful…

And blackness overwhelms her.

She wakes up on a bed way softer than the one she's been using in Ba Sing Se, and she hurts all over. She wants to cry out, to scream, to break out into tears, but she can't. She doesn't know where she is, and she's afraid that maybe…maybe she didn't get away. She grimaces in pain as she pushes herself up into a sitting position, determined to remain quiet. She can't be discovered until she's absolutely sure she's in no danger. She has to be able to make a hasty exit if the situation calls for it.

But no one's there. She's alone, in a room fit for a prince. _Where is she?_ As she's contemplating this, voices start to drift closer. She strains to listen.

"Where were you last night, brother? I was going to invite you to listen in on a meeting."

"I was busy…. There was something I had to take care of before everything goes down."

A pause, then: "Well, it better not interfere with my plans."

"It won't." She hers the door handle being turned, and quickly, painfully, forces herself back into her previous position. She doesn't want to be discovered yet. The door opens.

"The next meeting is in four hours, brother. I expect you to be there."

"I will." The door closes.

She's not alone anymore. She's scared, and her heart is beating a million times a second. Slowly, she opens her eyes, knowing that it has to be done eventually. What she sees almost makes her faint again. His back is to her, but she knows who it is.

Zuko. He saved her. He's the Blue Spirit. _Why didn't Aang tell them?_

She licks her lips—once, twice, a third time—swallows slowly, then says, "Thank you."

He jumps visibly, but doesn't turn to look at her. He acts like he didn't hear her.

"Why, Zuko?"

He doesn't want to answer her, doesn't want to make this encounter any more personal than it is already going to be. But he has to. "Because you needed to be saved." The answer is hardly an answer, but he won't say anything more. Katara watches him move around his room, gathering items into a nondescript bag. He doesn't pay any attention to her, and she can't understand why. And then he turns to her, guilt and regret in his golden eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner," he whispers.

That's when it hits her. He wasn't fast enough. The disgusting men actually got farther than she allowed her mind to believe.

She tries not to puke, resists the urge to cry, and breathes in deeply. "It's not your fault, Zuko. You couldn't have even known I was there."

He doesn't say anything, but he knows she's right. He wasn't looking for her; he was looking for his uncle. He wanted to warn him…but he didn't get the chance….

"I know this is very inhospitable of me, Katara," Zuko begins, "but you can't stay her much longer. My sister doesn't trust me—as she shouldn't—and is constantly having people check up on me." He walks up to her, putting the bag in her hands. "What's in there should help you and the Avatar. Also, you can't stay in Ba Sing Se any longer. My sister is planning to take the place over soon."

"What are you talking—" Katara tries to interrupt, but Zuko just continues.

"My uncle is running a tea shop around here somewhere. Find him, and tell him what I've just told you. Tell him that I said he should go with you. He can teach Aang firebending in time to defeat my father."

"What about you?" Katara asks, biting her lower lip.

"I'm staying here to keep an eye on my sister. Infiltrate from the inside."

"What if she finds out? Zuko, you could be killed." Katara ignores the pain as she gets up. "You shouldn't do this."

"It's the only choice we have," Zuko replies, resigned to his plan. "You have to go now. I don't know when Azula's going to enact her plan, but it's soon. You don't have much time." He pulls away a rug, revealing a secret door. He opens it, motioning for Katara to go into it. She obeys, seeing no other option. "I'll see you soon, Katara," he vows.

She looks into his eyes in the moments before he shuts the trap door. Their eyes meet, and they both see something they never have before. Trust.

In this time of war, two enemies have finally learned to trust each other.

And she knows he'll be there to keep his promise.


	8. From This Fate

_From This Fate_

Three years after the war, Katara wanders aimlessly around the no name town she is currently residing in. She goes back to the cottage. She has no purpose now. Everything ended with the war…even her reason for living.

Ozai died during the final battle, but that doesn't mean that everything is fine. The war didn't go as they wanted, the Fire Nation won, and Azula has taken the throne. She is flushing out the rebellion as fast as they come together. Aang died in the Avatar State; never to return to Earth as a reincarnation. Toph shut herself away in an earthen prison somewhere; grieving over Aang. Sokka wasn't dead, she knows that, but she doesn't know what happened to him after the final battle. She lost him then, and she hasn't heard from him. He, like her, probably doesn't want to be found.

There was one other person…Zuko. Well, you could say that Zuko and Katara were more than friends by the time of the final battle, but in the end…she lost him too.

Now, Katara wanders from town to town, careful not to be seen. Staying long enough to regain her strength, but never long enough to build any relationships. She knows she'll just end up leaving anyway. "Kista, I'm leaving." She says to the old lady she's been living with.

"Why, Rina?" Kista asks. Rina is the name Katara has been using while staying in West Prisri.

"Because I have to go." Katara explains. "I told you that I wasn't going to be staying long when I first asked if I could stay here. Remember?"

"Yes," the old lady recalls. "I remember, but I was just starting to enjoy your company."

"I'm sorry," Katara apologizes.

"No, it's okay, you don't have to apologize, I knew it was coming, I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"It's been a week, just as long as I said it would be."

"I'm sorry Rina, I'm…I'm just tired of being alone."

"I know, I am too." Katara whispers as she leaves.

On her own again, no where to go and no where to stay, Katara thinks about Rina. Rina doesn't exist. Her life was only a week here, and maybe another week in another small village. Rina is only one of Katara's many aliases. She has used many assumed names over the past few years and sometimes it catches up to her…like right now.

"Haven't I seen you before?" a man asks her, giving her a suggestive look. He's defiantly Fire Nation; his clothing gives it away. He's wearing the armor of the Fire Nation army, and it seems as if to belong to a high ranking officer. His eyes are a light brown, and his hair is brown. He looks old enough to be her father, but that hasn't stopped any of the men before.

"No," she replies quickly. She gets the feeling, however, that she has seen him before. She walks slightly faster now, trying to make the man go away, but still, he pursues her.

"What's your name?" he questions, still trying to place her. She doesn't respond. "Kana?" he guesses. She momentarily freezes at the mention of her dead grandmother. The South Pole had been massacred about a year ago, he…he couldn't know her, could he? "Katara?" he tries again. Still, even at the mention of her own name, Katara doesn't answer him. "I could force you to tell me." He tells her, his anger rising.

Katara doesn't want to get involved with the Fire Nation authorizes. She couldn't risk getting caught because she didn't want to tell some creep her name. "Ziana," she lies to him, using her favorite alias. "Ziana Li." It's her favorite, because it was her way of making Zuko a part of her; the 'Z' in Ziana from Zuko, and 'Li' from when they were in Ba Sing Se.

"Ziana Li almost sounds Fire Nation, but it also sounds Water Nation…" he trails off. It's obvious, from the look on his face that he knows more than he's telling her, and that he doesn't believe her. "Okay, _Ziana Li_, why don't you come with me?" he insists forcefully.

"No," she flat out refuses. She starts to walk away from him, but he grabs her arm forcefully and pulls her back.

"You can't just walk away from me like that! Do you know who I am?" the man yells at her. She doesn't answer; instead, she tries to pull her arm free of his grasp. "I'm Admiral Zhao of the Fire Nation. You, by law, are forced to obey me, whether you're a waterbender or not."

She gasps. "How do you know me?" she asks, trying to come off innocent.

"You're wanted by the Fire Nation." He states. "You aided the Avatar."

"What are you talking about?" she cries, trying to break free, "The Avatar's dead, he died three years ago!"

"You helped him before that, remember?"

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"I was to determined to die!" he retorts, then smirks at her. "Got you," he then calls the guards over, and they take her off to a prison cell. She fights all the way, but it doesn't matter, because the guards are at least ten times as strong as her…even with her bending.

Alone. His punishment is to be alone, confined to the lowest prison on the ship. Forced to move with the ship. Food and water comes once daily. No one says anything—even when he tries to provoke the guards and reluctant food carriers. He's been told that the reason he's been here is because he helped the Avatar. He never helped the Avatar. At least…not really. His only other traveling companions helped the Avatar—he only stayed for the waterbender. She wanted him to stay, so he did.

If he had his choice, he would have left…he might never have even joined the group. The only reason he ever even thought of joining them is because of the girl. He didn't know what it was about her, but the pleading look in her eyes pulled at his heart.

But he was never a part of the group. Only _she_ would talk to him…or tried to anyway; he usually ignored her.

Now he wishes for her to talk to him—for _anyone_ to talk to him. He's never been so isolated…not forced isolation like this, anyway. He's isolated himself before, as a matter of fact, he did it with _her_. Now, he thinks, talking to anyone would be a pleasant change. But he was confined to solitary. No one was coming.

They call it treason, his aiding a Fire Nation enemy. But he maintains that he never really did. His justification for such accusations is the girl. Always her; she's always on his mind. Maybe that's their reasoning for all of this. To drive him insane with his own thoughts. To suffer such tragic realities alone.

How long has it been? He doesn't even know. His mortal enemy, the person commanding the ship, tells him three years. But can you really trust your enemy? (_Is _he his enemy? He's Fire Nation, they both are, doesn't that mean something? Doesn't that make them allies in some form of the word? No, he's locked up in his _ally's _ship. They're not allies. They never could be.) He stopped keeping track after the ninth month, the days all blend together now. The only way for him to tell time is the window, thirty feet above him. At least, it tells him if it's day or night.

Really, though, he has nothing to do _but_ think. All entertainment was lost long ago. The only problem with thinking is that his thoughts always go back to _her_.

So when he hears her voice, he assumes that he's dreaming. It's only logical. He's in isolation. They don't typically throw ex-lovers in isolation together. But he isn't—dreaming, that is. As her voice gets louder, closer, he comes to the conclusion that she's really here. And he hates himself for the first emotion that finds it's way into his brain. Happiness. (She's here!) But then he realizes that they're in the same boat (both literally as well as figuratively), and he regrets being happy.

She's shoved into the cell next to his, and he resists the urge to comfort her. He doesn't say anything because he can't allow her to pull him back in. (She and the Avatar got him into this, he reminds himself.)

The guard, who refused to reply to her demands, finally speaks. "Maybe the two of you've met before. Maybe you know each other," he sneers. "After all, you both helped the Avatar." (It's then that Zuko hates him for putting her in here.)

He can't see her face, but he can gage her reaction by the gasp that comes out of her mouth. She doesn't say anything, though, which surprises him. She's always the first to say something. What is there to say, really, though?

The clank and lock of the door is a sound he is now used to, but to her, the loud noise is now, and obviously frightening. (Final, also, but she'll never admit it.) He hears her gasp, sees the slight jerk she can't help, and fights to hold of the smirk he shouldn't be having. She doesn't deserve this any more than he does, if not less.

He hears her crying and walks quietly to the bars dividing the two cells, dividing them. For a moment in the dark, he watches her. Suddenly, she stops crying and turns to him. "Who are you?" she asks, in distress.

Despite the situation, he can't help his reaction. _Three yeas apart and the first three words she says are: who are you?_ He doesn't say anything, though. He does, however, reach through the bars separating them.

Somehow, even though the darkness, she sees his hands and grabs them. The way she sees it, if he helped the Avatar, he can't be a bad guy. When her hands though his, he closes his eyes. _Three years since we last touched. Three long, painful years since I last saw her._

"Where are we?" he asks.

Knowing what he means, without knowing _him_, she answers. "West Prisri." She then realizes the fact that he didn't ask the question because he wanted to know. "Don't be evasive," she reprimands, "Who _are_ you?" She squeezes his hands tighter, as if he is her life line. (And maybe, in this isolation, he truly is.)

He can't help but be slightly hurt that she doesn't recognize him. "You know me," he replies just as evasively as before. "Well…I would hope so anyway."

"What are you talking—Zuko?" she cries, only just remembering his voice. It has been three years, he reminds himself. He can't expect her to remember right away. "But I thought…I mean, they said…"

"I didn't leave you, Katara," he supplies, knowing who 'they' is and what was said. He's been thinking on the words since he was thrown in here. "I was taken, and it was spread around that I left, because they wanted to catch you. They thought you'd be reckless, careless, maybe even kill yourself."

She's crying now—tears of joy. In this dark, dismal place, Katara's crying out of joy.

They don't talk for hours, for there isn't much to say. He doesn't tell her about the torture he was put through down here, and she doesn't relay stories about her life on the run. Most of it, she probably never will tell, because the things she had to do to survive. Well, sometimes, even she hates herself for what she's done.

Instead, the conversation revolves around the obvious. "Zuko," Katara says, "we have to get out of here."

He doesn't respond with a witty, sarcastic comment and she's thankful for that. "Okay, what do you propose?"

Katara hates herself even more, because she vowed never to do this again, but she knows it's they're only chance of escape. "We're going to play with puppets."

The next day, the boat still docked at the port in West Prisri, Katara and Zuko make their escape. The plan is simple. She controls the guards for just enough time for Zuko to kill them. It's not really new to Zuko, he's killed before, and it's not something Katara's never done before either. (Survival after the war isn't easy.)

When they're far enough from Zhao's ship, Katara starts to puke. She hates the control she has over people when she plays the puppetmaster, hates the power more than anything. She starts to cry, and Zuko doesn't know what to do.

He doesn't know her anymore. She's not the carefree girl she was before he was taken. She doesn't laugh anymore, and he doesn't think he's ever even seen her smile.

In the end, they travel together to find Sokka. They're not who they used to be, and their relationship isn't the same as before he was taken, either. He still loves her, she still loves him, but they've been through too much.

They couldn't save each other from the fate the end of the war brought. But maybe, just maybe, they can save the world from this fate.


End file.
